[6370fa6] | 1 | <sect1 id="ch01-how">
|
---|
| 2 | <title>How things are going to be done</title>
|
---|
[04f5529] | 3 | <?dbhtml filename="how.html" dir="chapter01"?>
|
---|
[6370fa6] | 4 |
|
---|
[35c2fa60] | 5 | <para>You are going to build your LFS system by using a previously installed
|
---|
| 6 | Linux distribution (such as Debian, Mandrake, Red Hat, or SuSE). This existing
|
---|
| 7 | Linux system (the host) will be used as a starting point, because you will need
|
---|
| 8 | programs like a compiler, linker and shell to build the new system. Normally
|
---|
| 9 | all the required tools are available if you selected <quote>development</quote>
|
---|
| 10 | as one of the options when you installed your distribution.</para>
|
---|
[6370fa6] | 11 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 12 | <para>In <xref linkend="chapter03"/> you will first create a new Linux native
|
---|
| 13 | partition and file system, the place where your new LFS system will be compiled
|
---|
| 14 | and installed. Then in <xref linkend="chapter04"/> you download all the
|
---|
| 15 | packages and patches required to build an LFS system, and store them on the new
|
---|
| 16 | file system.</para>
|
---|
[c61dd1e] | 17 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 18 | <para><xref linkend="chapter05"/> then discusses the installation of a number
|
---|
| 19 | of packages that will form the basic development suite (or toolchain) which is
|
---|
| 20 | used to build the actual system in <xref linkend="chapter06"/>. Some of these
|
---|
| 21 | packages are needed to resolve circular dependencies -- for example, to compile
|
---|
| 22 | a compiler you need a compiler.</para>
|
---|
[60ed866] | 23 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 24 | <para>The first thing to be done in <xref linkend="chapter05"/> is build a
|
---|
| 25 | first pass of the toolchain, made up of Binutils and GCC. The programs from
|
---|
| 26 | these packages will be linked statically in order for them to be usable
|
---|
| 27 | independently of the host system. The second thing to do is build Glibc, the
|
---|
| 28 | C library. Glibc will be compiled by the toolchain programs we just built in
|
---|
| 29 | the first pass. The third thing to do is build a second pass of the toolchain.
|
---|
| 30 | This time the toolchain will be dynamically linked against the newly built
|
---|
| 31 | Glibc. The remaining <xref linkend="chapter05"/> packages are all built using
|
---|
| 32 | this second pass toolchain and dynamically linked against the new
|
---|
| 33 | host-independent Glibc. When this is done, the LFS installation process will no
|
---|
| 34 | longer depend on the host distribution, with the exception of the running
|
---|
| 35 | kernel.</para>
|
---|
[c61dd1e] | 36 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 37 | <para>You may be thinking that <quote>this seems like a lot of work, just to
|
---|
| 38 | get away from my host distribution</quote>. Well, a full technical explanation
|
---|
| 39 | is provided at the start of <xref linkend="chapter05"/>, including some notes
|
---|
| 40 | on the differences between statically and dynamically linked programs.</para>
|
---|
[cc7e27a] | 41 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 42 | <para>In <xref linkend="chapter06"/> your real LFS system will be built. The
|
---|
| 43 | chroot (change root) program is used to enter a virtual environment and start
|
---|
| 44 | a new shell whose root directory will be set to the LFS partition. This is very
|
---|
| 45 | similar to rebooting and instructing the kernel to mount the LFS partition as
|
---|
| 46 | the root partition. The reason that you don't actually reboot, but instead
|
---|
| 47 | chroot, is that creating a bootable system requires additional work which isn't
|
---|
| 48 | necessary just yet. But the major advantage is that chrooting allows you to
|
---|
| 49 | continue using the host while LFS is being built. While waiting for package
|
---|
| 50 | compilation to complete, you can simply switch to a different VC (Virtual
|
---|
| 51 | Console) or X desktop and continue using the computer as you normally
|
---|
| 52 | would.</para>
|
---|
[32489b5] | 53 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 54 | <para>To finish the installation, the bootscripts are set up in
|
---|
| 55 | <xref linkend="chapter07"/>, the kernel and bootloader are set up in
|
---|
| 56 | <xref linkend="chapter08"/>, and <xref linkend="chapter09"/> contains some
|
---|
| 57 | pointers to help you after you finish the book. Then, finally, you're ready to
|
---|
| 58 | reboot your computer into your new LFS system.</para>
|
---|
[32489b5] | 59 |
|
---|
[bdf5881] | 60 | <para>This is the process in a nutshell. Detailed information on the steps you
|
---|
| 61 | will take are discussed in the chapters and package descriptions as you
|
---|
| 62 | progress through them. If something isn't completely clear now, don't worry,
|
---|
| 63 | everything will fall into place soon.</para>
|
---|
| 64 |
|
---|
[7f1fcd8] | 65 | <para>Please read <xref linkend="chapter02"/> carefully as it explains a few
|
---|
| 66 | important things you should be aware of before you begin to work through
|
---|
| 67 | <xref linkend="chapter05"/> and beyond.</para>
|
---|
[6370fa6] | 68 |
|
---|
| 69 | </sect1>
|
---|
| 70 |
|
---|